Behind the Scenes of IEEE VIS 2024: Please Don’t Complain About the Food
The following is part of a blog series that I’m putting together to record and express some of my thoughts and experiences from my time as a General Chair at IEEE VIS 2024. These experiences are presented from my perspective, but I want to emphasize that many/most decisions were made collectively with my co-chairs, Kristi Potter and Remco Chang, and many, many people were involved in the execution of the conference. All the credit for making the conference happen goes to these wonderful people.
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Did you know that the single largest expense category for VIS is food and beverage (F&B)? It’s a surprising fact for many, but it’s the reality we face as organizers.
The Devil Bargin
Our contract with the hotel is a bit of a devil’s bargain. We get the space “free,” but the hotel recoups its costs through hotel rooms and F&B charges. This means that, much like when you throw a wedding, the prices for food and drinks are… well, far from ideal. For example, coffee — your average conference coffee, mind you — costs around $100 per gallon. Yes, you read that right. That means each cup of so-so drip coffee costs over $6.
Why Isn’t the Coffee Better?
Most conferences have passable to terrible coffee. VIS 2023 had AMAZING coffee (kudos). I hope our coffee will be passable. It is a market problem, namely the market for supplying good coffee at conferences is not there.
Let me put that into perspective for you: we have 7 morning coffee events (Sun-Fri), 7 morning breaks (Sun-Fri), and 6 afternoon breaks (Sun-Thur). That’s 20 coffee events. If we serve 400 cups of coffee per event on average (assuming $100/gal and 16 cups per gal), we’re looking at nearly $50,000 — just on boring coffee, not the fancy stuff. Keep in mind, that’s not necessarily coffee consumed, but coffee served. We have to estimate how much will be drunk, and we’re charged based on that guess.
Now, we could spring for more expensive coffee, but that would have to take away from other F&B. For example, besides coffee, we’ll also have light snacks during the breaks. I won’t get into specifics, but that banana you grabbed and maybe didn’t even eat? It probably cost us around $5.
Party Like It’s $1999
In addition to breaks, we have several networking/social events, each with a per-person budget. For example, we expect to spend around $50 per person for the reception, $25 per person for the VISAP reception, $120 per person for the banquet, and $10 per person for happy hours. Take the $50 per person reception, for instance. For that, you can expect one drink and service of three light hors d’oeuvres and a small sweet treat — definitely not the full restaurant meal you might imagine for $50.
All in all, we’re expecting to spend between $300 and $350 per person on F&B, and that’s taking into account the fact that not everyone stays for the whole week or attends every event. F&B alone will consume about 40-50% of our budget.
What Does This Mean for Me?
I fully expect that some people will complain — that there wasn’t enough food, that it wasn’t great quality — and I completely understand. From their perspective, it is objectively true. However, we’re doing the best we can within the constraints we have. The reality is that conference F&B is much more expensive than in regular life, and it’s a fact that doesn’t always translate to attendees. One more thing to keep in mind when you complain: food made in large volumes is never quite as good as something cooked to order. That’s just a reality of scale, not a reflection on the hardworking hotel staff. Next time you cook dinner for 500, let me know how good it is.
When you’re at the conference, sipping on your $6 coffee, try to keep in mind the behind-the-scenes efforts and costs that go into making it all happen. We’re working hard to make sure the experience is as good as it can be — both on and off your plate. See you on the beach!
